Stolen Hearts
by lovelyloveme
Summary: Annabeth Chase really didn't know what to expect when she went to that bonfire with Thalia. One thing she didn't expect was to get dared to make Percy Jackson fall in love with her by the end of junior year. As secrets and lies unfold when the dare goes into effect, things don't go as planned, especially when she ends up falling in love with him, too.
1. Chapter One: I Choose Dare

**Hey guys! It's Abigail here, again. I just felt inspired to write this, so this plot is still fresh in my mind. So, I have to jot down all my ideas on a paper before they vanish like water vapor. I'm actually hoping that you guys will like this, my FF's in the past have not been so realistic than I've hoped, so I tried to make this one as realistic as possible.**

 **I have had major writer's block for the past few months, and I am starting to doubt my ability. Hopefully, I will probably finish this fanfiction. I read my stories after a while, and I was dissatisfied with how unrealistic it was compared to my life. My writing has improved, and sometimes, at least, a week after updating, I will reread my fanfiction and see if there were any mistakes that I didn't see.**

 **Might find some songs that relate to this chapter, if not, I'll just continue on with my story and update regularly. And just a side note: I WON MY VOLLEYBALL GAME! WE WON! WE WON! WE WON!**

 **I do not own PJO/HOO or anything else you may recognize! (Its fanfiction, so of course I wouldn't own it).**

 **Chapter One: "I choose dare."**

* * *

 **ANNABETH CHASE**

"Truth or dare, _Annabeth_?" Drew Tanaka had spoken my name with so much venom I gaped at her. I was sitting next to Thalia and I glared at her for even making me play this game, nevertheless forcing me to come with her to this back-to-school bonfire, which was near a campsite.

Had I really sneaked out of the house, and go on a thirty-five-minute drive just to get dared by Drew Tanaka?

I knew that Drew hated me, and she had to pick me. I stared at Drew my eyes leveling with hers, everyone knew that Annabeth Chase _never_ backed down from a dare. It was night, and, at least, nine o'clock, which made me scared on the inside.

"I choose, _dare_." Drew looked at me and smirked slyly at me. I suddenly felt self – conscious. This was Drew, the girl who had managed to chop off half of my luscious hair that everyone adored in sixth grade, the girl who spilled hot meatballs over my head on the first day of freshman year, the snobby brat who had tried to ruin every single day of my waking life. I looked around the area I was in – realizing that I was in a circle, outside with at least twenty-five people.

I looked back at Drew and raised my eyebrows, "What's the dare Tanaka?" I could see through the corner of my eye that Thalia looked worried and was probably piecing the puzzle pieces through Drew and I's feud.

I felt goosebumps on my arms because I had left my jacket in Thalia's blue truck, but I knew that I was nervous, I was scared of what her answer would be. Drew lifted her head up, turning it to the side, and tapped her left finger on her temple, pretending to think.

Drew's dare for me would probably be planned out, like she was waiting to ask me the dare since I got there.

"I dare you to make Percy Jackson fall in love with you by the end of junior year, and then break his heart." My eyes widened to the size of an elephant's behind, and I wished that I could bail.

Before we started, the rule was if you were going to bail at a dare, you had to jump in the lake naked.

 _Jump in the lake naked or make Percy Jackson fall in love with me and then break his heart?_

He had already dated, Rachel Elizabeth Dare who he was still obviously, head – over – heels – for her. It was an on and off thing that they had. I wouldn't do that. I _couldn't_ do that. It was kind of like, breaking the biggest rule ever. Rachel, Thalia, and I were best friends during third and seventh grade, but then a fallout happened. We made up in ninth grade, but we aren't as close as we were back then, than we are now. It took us a long time to gain each other's trust again, I couldn't just have it break down like a wrecking ball. I couldn't just break her trust, I couldn't break Thalia's trust either.

"No," I answered. A collective gasp went throughout the bonfire. "I'd rather jump in the lake naked."

"Too chicken to break them up?" Drew teased.

My cheeks flamed up in embarrassment and I heard laughs go around the circle. Drew stared at me and pointed to the lake. "Go on, jump in."

"Jump in! Jump in!" voices joined in with the chant, and everyone was chanting now except for certain people in the room: Thalia and Piper.

I stood up and Thalia grabbed my wrist. "Annabeth, you're sure you want to do this?" she questioned.

"Yeah," I answered. "I can't do that to Rachel. Never." Thalia nodded in understanding and an emotion flashed behind her eyes, but it was gone before I could decipher it. She let go of my hand and looked around to see people taking videos of me with their phones. A shiver ran down my spine and I looked at Drew. Her eyes were a dangerous dark brown and I could almost swear I saw a red gleam in her eyes. Her smirk widened when I blushed even more and crossed my arms. I searched Drew's eyes, searching for some kind of weakness, a reason why she was doing this to me. I could hear Drew snickering and then laughing. She mouthed to me, _Sorry,_ before laughing at me.

That's when I realized that Drew did not just dislike me, she had felt true hatred for me, but what had brought her to hate me?

"Are there any more options besides, _this_?" Drew's left eyebrow arched and she stood up. Everyone was suddenly silent.

" _No_."

My breath quickened, I felt light-headed, and I wanted to vomit. "You can give up now," she started and I had hope that she wouldn't make me do it. "But you have to make him fall in love with you. And if you don't, I'll tell everyone about your friend Piper's little _incidents_."

Eyes fell on Piper and she glared at me. I was so stupid, of course, Drew would threaten me with Piper's arrest records. My mouth parted open, and I shut my eyes tight.

How did Drew know?

Nobody knew about Piper's arrest records except for who she told, which was Thalia and me.

 _Stop being such a chicken._

"I'll jump in the lake naked then."

In the corner of my eye, I saw Piper let out a breath of relief. I stood there silently, watching the reactions of the school crowd. I turned around slowly and held my breath. I shouldn't have over thought my decision. Was stealing my friends' boyfriend really worth it? I felt my eyes water and I looked at Drew. Why did she hate me so much?

Drew smirked and took out her phone. "I'll be watching!" She yelled as I was thinking of running towards the lake.

"No, I'm sorry, I'm not doing this," I said abruptly.

I watched Drew's reaction. Her face turned a bright red, and the eyelash curler she was holding snapped.

"Excuse me?" Drew questioned.

"I said, that I'm not doing this stupid dare, nor am I going to make Percy Jackson fall in love with me and then break his heart."

Drew got up silently and walked over to me. She was, at least, five foot six, without the heels. When walking towards me, she was about my height, five foot eight.

"Sorry, hon. Do you want me to tell everybody about your little incidents?" Drew whispered in my ear so silently I couldn't almost hear what she said.

Fear rose up in my gut so fast, I had to hold my breath.

Drew couldn't, she wouldn't actually tell everyone, would she?

That was personal, it was a secret that I had told no one, but how could she know? I stared at her wide-eyed, and she wore a satisfied smirk on her face. I was frozen in place, and I knew that I had to accept the fact that I had to break Percy Jackson's heart. It was my turn to ask someone truth or dare now, but I didn't have the heart to. So instead, I got up, and ran towards Thalia's blue truck as fast as I could.

I had to do this for Piper, so her secrets were kept safe, for Thalia, even if Drew didn't say anything about threatening her, she would. Most of all, I was doing this for me, so my secrets were kept safe. I didn't know what Drew's plan would be, but all I knew was that she'd try destroy my relationships with people, break me brick by brick.

The guilt was slowly eating me up inside.

I already had so many problems to deal with, why be given something else to worry about? There were only so many questions racing through my head at the moment I couldn't even comprehend them. In the distance, I could hear Drew ask Thalia the same question:

"Truth or dare, Thalia?"

* * *

"What am I going to do?" I asked Thalia, distress laced in the tone of my voice.

Thalia sighed and stared ahead at the road. The game had ended shortly after Thalia picked truth, and a few others went. I stayed in her blue truck for the rest of the time, then she came back. Drew had apparently paid everybody there fifty bucks so they could just keep their mouths shut about the dare she gave me. Drew, obviously didn't want people knowing.

"I don't know, Annabeth," Thalia answered, exasperated.

"Are you scared?" I asked Thalia, my voice fragile and rigid.

Thalia didn't answer me back, and I gave up on getting her answer. I groaned out loud and looked at her.

"Would it have been better if I just jumped in the lake naked?" I asked Thalia.

"Probably, but maybe we can just ignore Drew and let this situation play out by itself," she answered back.

"You're right," I told her.

On the car ride back to my house, I hid my emotions like a mask. I didn't know how uncomfortable I was with the words she just told me.

 _"Probably, but maybe we can just ignore Drew and let this situation play out by itself."_

Her words were the only thing I could hear.

I felt like I should have curled my hands into a fist, and see my knuckles go white and bite on to my lower lip, until my lip bled. I felt the tears started to pool in my eyes, I shouldn't cry, Drew wasn't worth my emotions.

"Annabeth, stop it!" Thalia yelled. I had never heard her raise her voice at me.

When she yelled at me, I didn't realize that I was digging my nails into the palms of my hands.

"Gods, Annabeth, what has gotten into you? A month ago, you wouldn't even care if Drew did that! I'm here for you! Everything is going to be alright, forget Drew. Drew is not worth your emotions, no matter how much she angers you." My anger subsided a few minutes after she told me that. My sniffles were the only thing that was heard in the blue truck. I tried to calm myself down, but it wasn't working.

"You want to know what's gotten into me," I told her.

I wish I had learned to control my stupid tongue.

"This is all your fault! If you hadn't dragged me there in the first place, we wouldn't even be having this stupid problem right now! And how would Rachel feel when she hears about this?" I screamed at Thalia.

Rachel wouldn't even hear of the dare because Drew had paid everyone to keep their mouths shut.

"Rachel will be heartbroken, and I'll lose her trust, we both will. If our friendship falls apart, what will be left of it? It took us three years to gain her trust again! It took her three years to gain our trust again! Do you expect me to just let our friendship wither away like that, again? If you haven't noticed Thalia, I am the one who had to regain her trust, if she trusted me, she'd trust you," I snapped, but I was cut off by Thalia's abrupt choice of words, "You think I'm to blame? Annabeth, look at yourself."

I interrupted Thalia, again, "If you weren't so selfish, then we wouldn't even be having this conversation! This is all your freaking fault, if our friendship falls apart, you're to blame!" I yelled back at her, the shame that I had for her in that moment, intertwined into the tone of my voice.

When I looked at Thalia, her facial expression showed guiltiness and hurt. Tears were starting to pool in her eyes and her grip on the steering wheel had tightened. I felt bad instantly when I saw her expression. We both felt guilty, we were both to blame.

"Get out," Thalia snapped.

"What?" I asked in surprise. Thalia had to be kidding, she'd never do that. Thalia pulled her blue truck to the side of the road and she stopped abruptly. It was then I realized, I was at my house. She was looking at me with disgust, like how she looked at Drew.

Thalia snapped at me again, "Didn't you hear me? I said, get the hell out!"

"Gladly," I replied coldly.

 _I don't need anybody, I don't need Thalia either_.

I slammed her blue truck's door shut, and was brought to the sight of my two-story house, that had palm trees lining up next to the sides of my house. The driveway was made out of light red bricks which went slightly uphill, and the sidewalk cut between the driveways, a pearly white. The garage was painted grey, so in the dark it looked almost black. My dad's car was already parked in the driveway and Susan's car parked next to my dad's car. A large tree covered the window to the right, my bedroom. The lights in the house were all turned off, except the window on the left was covered by blinds, but you could tell that there was a light on, which meant Bobby and Matthew had left the light on.

I stormed into my house, glad that the door was left unlocked. When I looked back, Thalia was gone, she had already sped away in anger. In that moment, I realized how stupid I was. How blind I was.

Didn't I see that it hurt her, too?

That it would hurt her, too, if we lost our friendship with Rachel.

I locked my house door and breathed in and out heavily. My hands were shaking, and that's when I realized I was acting like Drew. Thalia was looking at me like I was Drew. Thalia recognized that hatred in my gray eyes that Drew had, the cunning look that I had given Drew when I told her no, I was utterly and completely unrecognizable in that moment.

What would happen when I went to school tomorrow, the first day of school?

I was glad that my family was sleeping, I didn't want them to hear my sobs. I slid down against the house door, curling up into a ball. The guilt was killing me slowly, I didn't expect for Thalia to be so harsh, then. If I had said something different, would she still feel hurt? I was the one who had caused her to feel guilty, we both felt guilty. The only other option was to blame each other, to surrender. What would happen if we don't forgive each other?

What if Thalia won't ever forgive me?

* * *

I didn't get that much sleep that night.

I kept on tossing and turning, thinking about Thalia and I's fight, the dare I was given, and the first day of school. It took me about until eleven o'clock to go to bed, the last day of summer wasn't all that I had planned. I looked at the digital clock on my nightstand, to check what time it was.

The digital clock read that it was six o'clock AM, and I got out of bed, because it was the first day of school. I didn't even try to wake up my twin brothers, or half-brothers, that it was time to get up because their school started at eight thirty. Classes started at seven forty-five when the late bell rang, the warning bell was at seven thirty-five, which was the time that you should be at school. If you came when the late bell rang, you get a tardy. If you're late four times, you get a detention. If a teacher gives you a detention during class, you're not so lucky.

I looked outside of my window, it was still dark outside, which I was grateful for. Waking up to the morning sun wasn't always so great, especially when the sun manages to burn your eyes. The sunrises were beautiful, but I prefer sunsets.

I walked towards my bathroom turning the light on, and opened the cabinets under the sink. I grabbed a white towel and put it on the toilet seat. I grabbed my toothbrush, and put toothpaste on my toothbrush. While I was showering, there were reoccurring thoughts about the dare, and the fight. The dare, in which, I, Annabeth Chase, had to break Percy Jackson's heart. It was nerve wracking, stress weighing my shoulders the day I walked in my bedroom door, yesterday.

I'm not a person who tends to get into drama, nor ever get into drama at all. For once, I didn't know what to do. When I had gotten out of the shower and dressed, I was surprised to see my dad in the kitchen, talking on the phone. Typical. I didn't even bother to say hello. The last time I had tried to talk to my dad while he was on the phone, it ended up with him grounding me for at least three months. His strict rules made me really anti-social, so the only friends I'd really ever had were Thalia, Piper, and Rachel. I had a lot of problems going on when I was a kid, I didn't need another reason to explain why my life was so depressing.

I don't bother to look at my dad again, but grab an apple from the counter. I usually ride my bike to school because of the short distance in a car, last school year I did that, but riding my bike there was at least thirty minutes. I checked the clock that was in the oven: it was six-thirty, the usual time that I leave my house.

I walked out of my door with my backpack, and I saw my bike waiting for me.

While I was riding my bike, I let my mind wander. Questions filled up mind like a tidal wave, memories tried to take over my mind, and worry replaced my fear. I honestly didn't need all of this drama in my life right now, I didn't need to be so, occupied with people. I was a junior today, I was in eleventh grade now, and I couldn't have all of this drama. My mind wandered to Drew, she liked Percy, a lot. I was pretty sure that Drew fell in love with him in ninth grade, and she had spent most of her time to get his attention. It never worked.

What bothered me the most was that she told me to break his heart. If I broke Percy's heart, Drew wanted to be the person to pick up all the pieces at his most vulnerable time. That was Drew's plan, she wasn't just wasn't planning on making me break Percy's heart, she was planning on making me fall in love with him, and I'd be heartbroken, too. What did she hate about me so much?

I'd never talked to Percy, but I had a few of my classes with him, last year. Percy was popular, the most popular person in the entire school. People talked about him most of the time, sometimes when I walked past people, they'd be talking about how hot he was. I'd seen him before, and I'm going to admit that he was attractive. It wasn't like Percy would walk down the hallway, and everyone would stop and stare at him like they did in the movies. The whole school isn't suddenly aware of his presence, but everyone knew who he was, and knew not to mess with him.

The thing I was nervous about was if I'd fall in love with him, instead of him falling in love with me, and Drew winning.

As cheesy as it sounds, I know for sure that I will not let Drew win, no matter what.

When I walked into school, I did not expect to see Rachel be at school earlier than me.

"Annabeth!" A voice I knew too well yelled behind me.

My head whipped around to see her and I smiled looking at the red haired, green eyed girl in front of me, who was my best friend. Rachel Elizabeth Dare had definitely changed over the summer. She had at least grown about two inches, making her five foot seven. Her wild, fiery, red hair, had gotten even redder than it was, and more freckles dotted her face than before because of the summer's heat. The solid colored green shirt she was wearing made her eyes stand out, and random colors of paint dotted her jeans.

"Oh, my gods! Annabeth, I missed you so much!" Rachel squealed.

I was surprised when she gave me a bone crushing hug, but I returned the gesture. There were questions surrounding my mind, I was trying to figure out a way to tell her about the truth or dare game that we played at the bonfire, yesterday.

"I missed you," I told her.

"I missed you, too. Where's Thalia and Piper?" Rachel asked, her green eyes still shining bright with curiosity.

I had no idea where Piper went after the bonfire, so she could have been just running late.

It was killing me not to tell Rachel about what happened, we had told each other, _everything_. I had kept quiet when she asked where Thalia was, and I had mumbled an answer telling her I didn't know where. We continued to talk for a few more minutes about our summer, and the people we met. While we were talking, in the corner of my eye, could see spiky black hair with a blue streak.

 _Thalia_.

Rachel gasped in surprise, a smile brightening her features.

"Thalia!" Rachel exclaimed.

Rachel opened her arms, a gesture clearly stating that she wanted a hug from Thalia. They hugged for a few seconds before separating, and I was faced to look at Thalia's electrifying blue eyes. I took in a sharp breath, and smiled at her, so Rachel didn't know about our fight.

"Hey, Rachel, I have something to tell you. Yesterday night," Thalia started.

Thalia didn't have time to finish her sentence because I interrupted her, "Rachel, is it okay if Thalia and I talk for a moment, _alone_?" I asked.

I saw the sudden hurt in Rachel's eyes, which made me feel guilty.

"Uh, sure, you guys go, I'll see you later," Rachel said, before smiling weakly.

I grabbed Thalia's arm and pulled her away to a faraway distance where Rachel couldn't hear us. My backpack weighed me down as I walked, but I still tried to stand tall, prideful. I stared at her with an angry look on my face as I crossed my arms. Thalia stared at me innocently like she wasn't about to say anything. I glared at her, and Thalia stiffened.

"What do you think you're doing?" I hissed at her.

"What do you mean? I wasn't doing anything," Thalia replied, but the glint in her eyes said otherwise.

"Yes you were, you were about to tell her about," I couldn't finish my sentence because Thalia cut me off.

"About what? About that you plan to break her boyfriend's heart?" Thalia snapped. I stayed quiet and Thalia gave me a glare.

"Thalia you don't understand, Drew just wants to," I started.

"Drew just wanted to what? Annabeth, I'm not stupid, why'd you choose dare anyway?" Thalia asked me. I was speechless, I didn't have an answer for her, and Thalia just snarled and left me standing there in shock of her words.

I stood there for a few minutes trying to comprehend her words.

 _"Why'd you choose dare anyway?"_

Thalia's words wrung in my head like a loud bell trying to get me to wake up. It was like she had shocked my insides with her words. It wasn't true, I didn't like what was happening as much as she did. She knew that I didn't like it, she had to. If Thalia didn't know that, something must have been wrong. If she didn't know that I didn't like it as much as she did, somebody was probably pretending to be her because my best friend knew everything about me.

I knew I was standing there for a few minutes before the bell rang, shocking me out of my reverie.

 _What's wrong with me?_

* * *

 **And, that's about it! I felt like I should have split this into two chapters. I did at first, but then I couldn't help myself and give you guys a little more.**

 **I know the characters were really OOC in this chapter. If you have a tip that can help me not make my characters so OOC, just leave a review. Please, leave a review if you'd like, and I accept constructive criticism. I take it as a chance to make my work better and more interesting. If you thought my story was bad and have something that might make it better, leave a review, it'd really help.**

 **If there is something that you think you can change about my story, I'd be glad to change it for you. I will answer to your reviews, and you are probably thinking, "ANOTHER STORY?"**

 **I promise you that this isn't just one of those, " _it all started with a dare_ ," stories. Usually, every person who has ever said I promise you it won't be that cliché, will probably make it as cliché as possible. Just joking about the last sentence, some cliché stories can be really interesting. I have a plot twist waiting for you guys, but you'll have to wait at least wait more than a lot of chapters first. Yep, I have a bunch of ideas for the story written down and I plan to make this as interesting as it can get.**

 **Have a great day, my darlings!**


	2. Chapter Two: You're Lucky, Chase

**Hey, my darlings! How are you, guys? I'm back with another chapter! I know the last chapter was really dramatic, more dramatic than I expected. The last chapter was an old file that I found in my documents on my computer when I was deleting documents that I didn't need. It wasn't finished and needed major editing.**

 **And thank you to the amazing people who reviewed, favorited, and followed this story last chapter, it means a lot to me!**

 **IMPORTANT: Rachel gets to school before Annabeth, and talked to Percy before she left.**

 **al red: Thank you so much for your constructive criticism, it's more than welcome! I do plan to make my villains interesting, and Percy does have a flaw. I enjoyed reading your review and the helpful advice, it has probably made this chapter way better than originally planned. And no, I will not try to make this like other stories.**

 **Abooknerdandproud: Aww, thank you!**

 **clo 7615: Well, now you have a future chapter to look forward to reading, and enjoy!**

 **I do not own PJO/HOO or anything else you may recognize!**

 **Chapter Two: "You're Lucky, Chase."**

* * *

 **PERCY JACKSON**

"Love you, Percy, have a great day at school today!" Sally, my mom, exclaimed, giving me a hug and a kiss on the check.

I smiled at my mother before I replied, "Love you, too. Hope you do well on that job interview."

My mom smiled warmly at me, her blue eyes sparkling, changing in the light. Her long brown hair was draped over her shoulders, with a few streaks of gray showing, it was impossible to imagine my mom as old. I gave her a hug as she returned the simple gesture, and hugged me tight. She smelled like everything you'd find in a candy shop because she worked at the candy shop down the road.

She was having a job interview to be a teacher. I was confident that my mom would get this job, she had never even been a teacher before, but I knew she was good at taking care of kids.

I mean, she had to raise me, and she still is.

My mom had babysat a few kids a couple of times in our apartment complex. After that, my mom had worked at a daycare for a while when I was twelve, but then she had to quit because I had been expelled from another school, again.

"Bye, mom!" I yelled to her as I started walking towards the school bus that was waiting for me.

When I had walked onto the school bus, I really hadn't expected a lot of people on the bus. I had gone on a bus to school every year since elementary school, and there were never a lot of kids on the bus when it was the first day of school.

People were bobbing their heads to the music that was being blasted through their headphones for everyone to hear, the lyrics to the songs screaming at me.

Most of the kids on the bus looked like freshmen, nervous, and hopeful. I wasn't going to hate on any of them, I barely knew them. The seniors hated a few freshmen. They were new to the high school system, and it got worse because some people skipped a few grades. I was kind of glad that I wasn't a senior, or a freshman. You could actually sense the tension between seniors and freshmen. When you were freshmen, it was like sixth grade all over again. When you were a senior, it was eighth grade all over again, double the homework and stress.

I tried not to meet anyone's eyes as I walked onto the bus, I was popular at Goode High, which didn't help. My sea green eyes scanned the bus seats, searching for a possible place to sit down. The only open seat on the bus that wasn't blocked by someone's legs or backpacks was the seat where a black, shaggy haired guy sat, with music blasting through his headphones.

I walked up to him, tapping him on the shoulder.

"Hey, is it okay if I can sit next to you?" I asked him, "This is the only other available seat."

He looked startled as if I was talking to him, but then he closed his eyes, and he'd probably dismissed the thought. The music was still being blasted through his headphones and I tapped his shoulder again, using a hand gesture to describe that he needed to turn his music volume down.

"Hey, can I sit next to you?" I asked him again, "This is the only other available seat."

The boy nodded, and I wasn't sure how I couldn't recognize him before. Then, I realized that this was Bianca's younger brother, Nico Di Angelo. Bianca never talked about her brother, she'd labeled him as "that lonely kid." I wasn't stupid, they looked alike, even if they didn't hang around the same social crowds, Bianca had social graces and Nico did not. Anyone who was smart would be able to tell that this was Bianca Di Angelo's brother.

Don't be so quick to judge, I thought.

They both had the same dark brown hair and dark eyes, on his face something was missing, an endearing smile, Bianca's smile. That was when it clicked, I had briefly remembered that he was a sophomore now, and was that boy who sat in the back of the class.

I suddenly felt disappointed in Bianca and sorry for Nico.

I knew I shouldn't have thought that Bianca was that horrible sister, or one of the stepsisters from Cinderella, but worse. Sure, Bianca was sweet and nice, but she had a dark side, especially when it came to fitting in. She held grudges, and maybe it was against something her brother had done.

Instead of Nico looking down, he was looking at someone across from us. The boy who sat across from us had golden blond hair, and sun-kissed skin. I couldn't see the guy fully because his back was turned to me. The golden-haired boy had perfect posture, and the blue shirt he was wearing made his hair look even more golden.

I looked back at Nico, and I blurted out the first thing that came to my head, "What are you staring at?"

Nico jumped, surprised that I had asked him a question. A warm blush coated his cheeks and he stuttered out a sudden reply, "I wasn't staring at anybody."

"I never said anything about you staring at someone," I replied.

He answered me back in a harsh tone, "I wasn't staring at anything, okay?"

The blond boy's head whirled around to meet Nico and I's eyes. His eyes were a sky blue, and freckles dotted the cheeks of his face.

Will Solace.

I looked at Nico, and the warm blush on his face hadn't faded. Will looked at Nico, flashing him a smile, and Nico looked startled.

I raised my eyebrows and let the subject drop, not wanting to make him feel uncomfortable. I left the subject alone, until we arrived at school, and got off the bus. Nico went his way, I went mine. In that moment, I went to go look for the girl who was apparently Nico's sister, Bianca Di Angelo.

I weaved my way through the school's social crowds, trying not to attract an eye or two. It didn't help that I was around six feet two, so I'd attract a lot of stares. I walked faster and went to Goode High's outside courtyard. Grassy green hills surrounded the outside courtyard, students conversed, some people leaning against a tree or two, and I spotted a three girls sitting on the ledge of a fountain.

When I started walking towards them, I knew who they were. My green eyed girlfriend was laughing at a joke Bianca had made, while Drew Tanaka sat down next to them, brushing her silky dark brown hair. Bianca's endearing smile lit up her face, her olive skin tone shining against the sun's rays, eyes crinkling as she laughed.

I stood behind Rachel, and I didn't think she sensed my presence. Rachel's fiery red hair that was bright against her pale complexion had grown longer, and I could tell that she had grown taller by just looking at her. Drew was sitting next to Bianca and Rachel while they were conversing and applied lipstick to her pink lips. Bianca was the first to notice I was standing behind Rachel.

I didn't even think about my change of plan, surprising Rachel. I took my hands and covered her eyes with them.

"Who is it?" Rachel asked, and I could sense the smirk tugging on her lips.

"Guess," I replied, a hint of mischief in my voice.

"Percy," Rachel answered, and I smiled, letting out a sigh, letting her know that she had guessed correctly. Rachel took my hands off her eyes and turned around to hug squeezed me tight like she always did. We talked on the phone over the summer and had a few dates, which was fun. Another thing I took notice of was that she was hanging out with Drew.

That was surprising.

I couldn't tell whether or not that Rachel was hanging around with Drew because Drew was Bianca's friend. Drew was tall, had dark hair in ringlets, plenty of jewelry and perfect makeup. Rachel had curly, but slightly frizzy red hair, and green eyes, not a single ounce of jewelry on her except for the bracelet I had given her for her sixteenth birthday.

They were both very different, and comparing them was too easy. Rachel had never hung out with Drew before, and Rachel would probably complain about how Drew was snobbish and bragged about her new convertible.

People at our school were really rich.

I smiled at Bianca and Drew, showing absolute glee on my face. Forgetting about the subject of Nico, I focused on the girl in front of me. Rachel.

"What's your first class?" Rachel asked in an exciting tone.

"Civics," I answered her.

"That's my first class, too, and I think Annabeth has that class with us, but I don't know because I haven't seen her yet," she squealed.

Annabeth.

That name was beautiful and enchanting. I distinctly remembered who Annabeth was, she was one of Rachel's best friends and Rachel talked about her frequently. I knew Annabeth had gray eyes and blond curly hair. That was how Rachel described her. I couldn't help but think about Annabeth. I had never met her officially and she probably knew about everything that happened between Rachel and me.

"Percy!" Rachel exclaimed, trying to snap me out of my daze.

"What?" I asked immediately, startled.

"I'm going to go now, I'll see you in civics okay?" Rachel said to me.

"Uh, yeah," I answered.

Rachel smiled at me, shaking her head before kissing my cheek. Even though Rachel had been on my mind, Annabeth was still lingering on my mind.

 _Who was she?_

* * *

 **ANNABETH CHASE**

The classroom was _freezing_.

It was really hard to concentrate because of my ADHD.

Civics really wasn't what I had expected.

Plus, Percy was in my class which made everything a lot worse than things needed to be. Ms. Dodds was wearing a black leather jacket, a long sleeved black shirt, and regular jeans. I did not have a jacket, only really baggy clothing which didn't help keep me warm from the cold. Ms. Dodds had ended up giving the class a twenty-minute lecture on how to behave in her class, and where everything should go and what we need for class. Then, she just gave us a ten-page packet that we were supposed to finish by the end of class and give to her.

It was apparently a practice test to see what we knew, and what we didn't know. If we didn't finish, she'd take off participation points. Lucky for me, I finished the packet in the fifteen minutes after the lecture, and I still had time to check my work after. The class was fifty-five minutes long, and my ADHD was trying to kill me.

I tapped my foot impatiently against the classroom floor and let my mind wander. I had finished checking my work a few minutes ago and Ms. Dodds said we couldn't talk, read, or do anything once we were done. I wasn't the only one finished, a couple of other students had finished before me. It kind of made me feel bad.

I looked at Percy, he was all the way across the other side of the room and I could see that his jaw was tightened and his eyebrows were furrowed in confusion. He looked like he was on the fifth page and was struggling to answer a question. I slumped back in my seat and tried not to look at him. Percy was wearing a blue jacket and was wearing jeans with converse. Lucky him, at least, he's warm.

"Ten more minutes," Ms. Dodds said to us.

I looked at Percy again, he looked panicked. He was biting his nails like I did when I didn't eat breakfast or was hungry. His hands were soon tangled up in his hair, and he gripped his hair tightly. Rachel was sitting next to Percy, and I saw her look at him in worry. Percy untangled his hands from his hair, and looked around the classroom for a few seconds, his eyes hit mine.

I slumped down in my seat, trying to get him to look away.

He didn't.

Percy was looking at me like I was an enigma, a puzzle that he couldn't quite put together. Percy looked away from me after a couple of seconds, and it felt like he was staring at me forever. I looked at his blue jacket, was his favorite color blue, like the ocean? The ocean was blue and had really big waves like thunderstorms, and thunderstorms usually cause really huge waves, so if really huge waves are live forty-feet-tall, then that means, wait, what was I thinking about again?

The next ten minutes went by faster than I imagined. When the bell rang, I gave my packet to Ms. Dodds as did everyone else. I went back to my desk and grabbed my backpack from the floor, hauling my backpack over my right shoulder, walking out of the classroom. I started walking to my next class, English. English was all the way across campus, and we had a five-minute break in between when we switched classes. I'd be lucky enough to get there in time.

While I was walking to my next class, I don't even think I noticed that I had bumped into Drew. She hissed in pain and growled slightly after I did and glared at me. I stopped in the middle of the hallway and squeezed my eyes shut. I was not even close to English class, and the bell would ring in about three minutes.

"What do you want, Drew?" I asked.

"For you to apologize for hitting me, that wasn't very nice, at all," Drew hissed at me. I flinched at the aggressive tone that was etched into her voice.

 _"Watch where you're going!" Drew yelled at me after I'd bumped into her by accident, the anger clear in her voice._

 _"I-I'm s-sorry," I muttered._

 _"Oh, you're what now? I can't hear you, hon," Drew said as she smirked at me. Drew grabbed my arm, and threw me against the lockers right next to me, a sharp pain ran up my back. I wanted to scream at the top of my lungs and cry, but Drew would think that was a weakness. Drew would think I was weak. I, Annabeth Chase was_ not _weak. I never was._

 _"I said I was sorry," I snapped at her._

 _Drew's grip on my arm tightened, and I felt like screaming. Her cat-like claws dug into my skin, and I tried not to cry. Don't cry,_ do not _cry. Crying is for babies. I shouldn't cry, but I want to so badly, I want to scream, yell shout, and I want Thalia to be there to beat Drew up. Being a victim of bullying from Drew was surprising, you'd be cursed with bad luck if she'd ever glared at you, or looked at you in disgust._

 _"Awe, is little Annie going to cry?" Drew teased._

 _That comment made me want to snap her neck, it made me want to yell at her with every fiber in my body. I let a tear fall, I had let her win. Drew got what she wanted, now she should leave me alone, for good. I made a sound that must have sounded like a whimper to her because she had a satisfied smirk on her face that showed she was gleaming with pride._

 _"Don't call me Annie," I hissed at her._

 _"Why? Is it because Luke and Thalia─" Drew started._

 _"Just shut up!" I screamed at her._

 _"Excuse me?" Drew said in a deadly whisper._

 _"I said, shut─" Drew pushed me against the lockers harder, and she let go of me. I'm free, I can run now, I will be safe. Then again, no. There is no place at home for reliability or for comfort, no place for me to shed my tears, no place for me to sob until my lungs bleed. I had no home, I had no place to go, there was no happy place for me. Drew took off her backpack, and unzipped the front part of it, and fear rose up in my gut I let out a sharp gasp, it was so loud that Drew looked at me and smiled while she brought out scissors._

 _I should have ran._

 _"W-what are you doing?" I asked, shrieking._

 _"Oh, I'm just going to cut off a little bit your hair," Drew explained, a small smirk tugging at the corners of her mouth. Then, Drew gripped one of the blond curls in my hair, and she cut half of it off, I screamed in horror._

"Well, Drew, I am─"

"All eleventh and twelfth-grade students, please report to the auditorium for an assembly. I repeat, all eleventh and twelfth-grade students, please report to the auditorium for the assembly," a voice said on the PA.

"You're lucky, Chase," Drew snapped, snarling at me.

I flinched at her harsh words and walked away towards the auditorium. I started walking towards the auditorium that was near my civics class, and I kind of wished I wasn't Drew's enemy.

I was glad that I was closer to the auditorium's doors than most, and it didn't surprise me when I saw a mob of students rushing towards the doors. It got worse when I saw a lot of people running behind me.

I willed my legs to go faster, but I was stuck with the legs I had. I was almost there, just a couple of more steps.

"Move!" someone behind me yelled.

I walked a few more steps and opened the door. I got shoved to the floor as soon as I walked in there. It wasn't that much of a big deal for me, there were a ton of eleventh and twelfth-grade students. There was another auditorium all the way across campus for middle school and high school student assemblies. It was like a wild zoo in there.

I stood up once the large crowd had finished walking on my back, and almost all of the seats were taken. I saw a few empty seats and one was next to Percy, and Rachel was on the seat next to Percy. With my backpack slung over my right shoulder, I walked down the long aisle and met a couple of stares. I tapped Percy's shoulder hesitantly when I got there. I probably was cursed with bad luck once I was Drew sitting next to Rachel. I could have recognized Rachel's fiery red hair anywhere whether it was in a scorching pit of hot lava or in the zombie apocalypse (okay, maybe that was a little bit over exaggerated).

"Percy, can I sit here?" I asked him.

His head whipped around, and so did Rachel's, they both looked surprised.

"Hey, Annie," Rachel said to me.

"Please, don't call me that," I hissed playfully, rolling my eyes, irritated. A smile still tugged at the corners of my mouth.

"Can I still sit next to you guys?" I questioned, again.

A lot of "oh yeah, of course, and sure," were chorused from Rachel and Percy. I sat down next to them and Rachel smiled at me.

"Percy, this is Annabeth. Annabeth, this is Percy," Rachel said, introducing Percy and I. I smiled at him, and he smiled back.

"It's nice to meet you, Percy," I stated.

"You too, Annabeth," Percy replied.

"Have you seen, Piper yet?" Rachel asked hopefully.

"I'm sorry, no I haven't, I think she's sick."

"Oh," Rachel muttered.

I looked up at the large stage and waited for the principal and vice principals to start talking, or some other high authority associated with the school. I turned my head to look at Rachel and Percy, but my eyes wandered to the seats that were taken beside them. Drew sat next to Rachel, and Bianca sat next to Drew. Okay, that wasn't normal. Rachel would never ever sit next to Drew. That was flat out strange for a person like her, the last thing I remembered about Rachel talking about Drew, Rachel had said that Drew was some "Asian barbie who was always hitting on Percy."

Drew looked at me, and she offered me a smile, just because Rachel was around. Her smile was fake, very fake. To others, it would have looked real, but to me, it looked like she was trying to play some silly game with me. Drew was smart and had more than a few tricks up her sleeve.

It may have made my blood boil, but she mouthed to me, "I'd start completing the dare if I were you."

* * *

 **AND THAT'S A WRAP OF CHAPTER TWO, FOLKS!**

 **Hope you enjoyed this chapter, constructive criticism is more than welcome and I hope you guys review! I am so glad I finished this first chapter, I worked hard on it. I am so glad that you guys even looked at my story and I can't believe it, 225 VIEWS for one chapter! That makes me so glad and happy, thank you so much, guys!**

 **Have a great day, darlings!**


	3. Chapter Three: I'm Watching

**Good Morning/Afternoon/Night, my darlings! Didn't the month of November go by fast? It was like two days, really. Happy belated Thanksgiving? I don't know, belated it is! Like, seriously, how are you guys?**

 **And thank you to the amazing people who reviewed, favorited, and followed this story last chapter, it means a lot to me!**

 **Sorry for the long update, I have to study for midterms because they don't want us to study over winter break. It sucks, and the teachers are giving me a lot of homework around this time of the school year.**

 **Are you guys excited for the holidays? They're right around the corner!**

 **You already know I don't own PJO!**

 **Chapter Three: "I'm Watching."**

* * *

 **ANNABETH CHASE**

I sat uncomfortably next to Percy and fidgeted my fingers nervously. "Guys, I have to go to the restroom really quick, stay here," Rachel told Percy and me, which Drew and Bianca probably could have overheard.

"So, Annabeth, right?" Percy asked me.

 _Awkward_ , a voice in my head sang.

"Yes," I mumbled, awkwardly. I met Drew's gaze, she was glaring at me, and her eyes were probably saying something like this: _what are you doing? Go and steal your BFF's boyfriend already!_

Uh, yeah, it's not just that simple.

"It's nice to meet you," I told him.

"Do you talk?" Percy questioned.

 _What kind of question is that?_

"Yes," I answered.

"Do you always respond with one-word answers?" Percy asked me, his eyebrows raised.

"No, not usually," I replied.

"So only three worded answers?" Percy asked.

"Has Rachel ever told you that you're bad at small talk?" I questioned, rolling my eyes.

I looked over at Drew, and she was glaring at me, it was like she was trying to burn holes into my head. I smirked at her and I don't _ever_ smirk. If this was how Drew was going to treat me, I would mess up her plan. I would make Percy hate me by the end of this conversation. If Percy hated me, then the dare would not go into effect.

 _But what if she tells everyone about the secret?_ No, I was not going to let my thoughts get the best of me. _What about Piper?_

"A few times actually," Percy confessed, looking embarrassed that he was bad at it.

"Well, I agree with her, you suck at it," I said, rolling my eyes again. Percy's face looked flustered, like he hadn't expected me to be so straightforward in the first few minutes of talking to him.

" _I_ suck at small talk? If it's anything, you suck at small talk. You were the one who was only answering with one worded answers," Percy said, his voice sounded like he was trying to prove that he was better at something than me.

"Oh really?" I chuckled sarcastically.

"I'm pretty sure you suck at small talk," Percy replied.

"Do not."

"Do too."

"Do not."

"Do too."

"Do not."

"Do too."

I really should not be enjoying the childish conversation we were having right then, but it was fun for me, at least. Percy probably wanted to rip my insides out.

"If I tell you that you're awesome at small talk, it'll boost your big ego, and I'm sure all of your other friends have big egos, too," I told him.

"Look, if we really want to get along, could you please stop insulting my social skills? Last time I checked, I'm at the top of the social ladder."

Good. He hates me already, this conversation is getting really cutthroat. And to be honest, the Percy that I had heard about most of the time would never say such a thing, but I guess he hated me.

Before I have time to reply with a snarky comeback, I heard the pounding of footsteps behind me, so I turned around to meet the kind face of Rachel. I avoided Rachel's stare by looking at Drew, a smirk plastered on her face. I clenched my fists in frustration. Drew smiled at me, and I caught the eye of Bianca behind her, Bianca snarled at me. And, I suddenly wasn't so comfortable being with Rachel's new friends anymore, and I don't think I ever was.

"Can I please have your attention?" the principal, Mr. Dionysus said. I was kind of surprised that he didn't slur over his words like he was drunk, or burp in front of the microphone. The years before that, he had the absolute worst mannerisms.

Maybe it was because there were a lot of new students this year and he wanted to make a good impression? I certainly wasn't sure of it. Last year, there was a rumor going around that he had not so privately burped in front of all the eleventh and twelfth graders. I was in tenth grade last year, so I couldn't have known the truth.

"Is it just me, or is Mr. D acting strange?" Percy questioned, whispering to no one in particular.

No one answered Percy's bizarre question.

"Students, I know that it's the first day of school, and new students, you will have an absolutely great time this school year at Goode High. The staff and I have worked hard to prepare you for twelfth and eleventh grade this year, so we wish you all the best."

I resisted the urge to scoff. Prepare us? I wasn't the only one who thought that, a round of snickers and snorts went through the large crowd.

"Okay, okay, now we have another announcement. Due to the constant misbehavior from the seniors and juniors last year, and cyberbullying, we have decided to ban using phones throughout the school day, the school cannot afford to be sued, again, for cyber bullying from other students. We have many new rules this year because we feel that you students have become irresponsible and have been slacking off in your classes." Mr. D announced.

I was shocked at Mr. D's speech. It was surprising to actually see Mr. D actually establish some rules around here, but I was shocked when I heard about the cyber bullying. It was probably most of the students here, and Drew was the person who had immediately popped up in my head. Most of the damage done by girls are very silent, and something that you can't prove that they did. One thing I noticed was that Drew was not the only person just doing the damage. Bianca, one of the most introverted people I have ever met in my life has cyberbullied. I remember that Bianca was at the bonfire yesterday, too. I didn't take notice that she had been recording the entire quarrel.

I feel so guilty about the fight with Thalia, and keeping the secret from Rachel, but I have all year to tell Rachel, right?

My eyes swept the large auditorium looking for Thalia. I looked behind me to meet several eyes, but turned back around because she wasn't there. It wasn't that hard to find Thalia though, her black spiky hair and blue highlights gave it all away that it was her. Thalia's back was pressed against the seat, and her head kept falling, like she was trying not to fall asleep. Thalia wouldn't ever talk to me again, it was all my fault. All of my fault. It was all of my fault!

 _Calm down_ , I remembered.

I slowed down my breathing when I realized that I was gripping the armrests tightly. Percy gave me a worried look from the corner of my eye, and I resisted the urge to scream. It was my fault, It's my fault, my life's over, I'm useless, nothing is alright! I couldn't hear what Mr. D was saying, and my vision was blurry.

 _"Get out," Thalia snapped._

 _"What?" I asked in surprise. Thalia had to be kidding, she'd never do that. Thalia pulled her blue truck to the side of the road and she stopped abruptly. It was then I realized, I was at my house. She was looking at me with disgust, like how she looked at Drew._

 _Thalia snapped at me again, "Didn't you hear me? I said, get the hell out!"_

I didn't even notice when the speech was over. A hand gripped my shoulder, shaking me out of my reverie. If I had kept my mouth shut, the guilt was killing me.

"Annabeth?" A worried Rachel asked.

Percy was close behind her, watching me with obvious concern. I saw the pile of students rushing out through the auditorium's doors as fast as they could, their voices just one giant cluster of words I couldn't comprehend.

"Annabeth?" Rachel asked, talking louder this time.

"I-I," I stuttered.

"Annabeth, are you okay?" Rachel questioned me, her green eyes filled with worry.

"Yes, I'm fine," I answered, my voice coming out colder than before. Rachel stared at me questioningly, she knew something was wrong, she always knew when something was wrong.

Rachel was one of my best friends, how could she not know if something was wrong?

Rachel stared me down for a little bit longer, narrowing her eyes, like she trying to figure out what was wrong with me. Rachel looked at me for a few more seconds before turning her bright green eyes away and started walking away. Rachel's hand had left my shoulder, and while she was walking away with Percy, hand in hand, he glanced back at me, concerned like Rachel.

I felt guilty instantly.

"Drew, Bianca! You coming?" Rachel called.

"Yeah! We'll be one second!" Drew called back to Rachel.

"So, how's it going, Annie?" Drew hissed from behind me.

I turned around to look at her sly face. Drew's eyes glinted with mischief, Drew thought this was a game, Drew thought my life was a game she could play around with.

I figured out what her plan was, but it was sickening to me. Drew looked at me and her plump lips parted, and she sighed. "I always thought of you as a heartbreaker," Drew told me.

"What do you want, Drew?" I asked her, the cold creeping back into my voice in seconds. Drew stared me down, raising her chin defiantly. Almost as if challenging me to a silent duel. "And don't call me Annie."

"Why can't I?" Drew asked me.

"Just please don't call me that, I hate it," I told her, my voice sounding fragile and rigid, the coldness seeping out of it.

"What do you want from me?" I asked Drew.

"I need your phone number, obviously."

"What if I don't want to give it to you?" I snapped.

"You have to, or else everyone will know that―"

"Okay! Fine! Give me your phone, and I'll type in the number," I replied.

Drew raised one of her eyebrows questioningly. Bianca was behind Drew, watching the scene carefully. Bianca wore a sly smile and tapped Drew's shoulder lightly. Drew's face looked smug as she watched me and she said, "I'm watching."

I watched the pair of girls saunter away to the auditorium's doors and walk away like nothing had happened. I felt like screaming at Drew, who did she think she was? I started to walk away from the seats and started to head to my next class. It was hard to get myself through the crowd, it was bigger than I expected.

* * *

I pushed open the cafeteria's door, and spotted Thalia's black hair with blue highlights, it wasn't that hard to find her, she stood out wherever she went. Thalia was waiting in line for lunch, and I waited, standing there, until she had her lunch.

"Thalia!" I yelled.

My feet betrayed me when I started running towards her. Thalia seemed to ignore me when I got closer. I grabbed her shoulder, turning her around, tired that she wouldn't answer me. Thalia was already sitting down, sitting next to Piper.

"What the hell do you think you're doing?" Thalia asked me, her voice harsh.

"Look, Thalia, I'm sorry about," I started.

"Don't talk to me, _Annie_ ," Thalia interjected, snapping at me.

I sucked in a breath, that comment was harsh. She couldn't say that, she wouldn't say that, ever. Thalia knew better than to call me _Annie_ , Thalia knew well enough that name would cause problems.

"Thalia, Piper, please listen to me, I," I started again.

"Annabeth, go away, we don't want you here. Didn't you get the hint?" Piper snapped at me.

I felt my face heat up, humiliated, and I looked at the people they were sitting with. I didn't let any emotion cross my face and just stood there with my arms crossed at their table.

"Annabeth, why don't you come sit with us?" A calm voice questioned behind me. I stifled a groan. I turned around and met the eyes of Drew. Her eyes read sit-with-me-we-have-things-to-discuss. I looked at Drew and Bianca was beside her, watching me with guarded eyes.

"Sure," I replied, my voice an eerie calm.

I walked back to her table and it didn't help with the stares I was getting. It wasn't that everybody was watching me or something like that, a few people were giving me dirty looks because I was talking to Drew, nevertheless acknowledging her. I continued to walk at the same pace and didn't dare look down at my feet.

I saw her table in the corner of the room, a few other girls were there, conversing. There were three empty seats, I suspected that one was reserved for me. As I got closer to the table, the others on Drew's table started to notice me. I sat down as fast as I could, avoiding all of the stares from the people at the table.

"So, we have things to discuss," Drew said, a sly smirk tugging at the corners to her lips.

"What do I have to do?" I asked her, my eyebrows raised.

"It starts now, and I'm not messing with you," Drew snapped.

"What? You made a book of all of the possible ways Percy could fall in love with someone," I said sarcastically.

"Well, I've already befriended Rachel, so the plan seems to be in action," Drew stated.

"The plan seems to be falling into place," Bianca said. It was surprising when I heard Bianca speak, she was always so quiet around people, and always wore a guarded expression, like I did, unlike people who wore their heart on their sleeve.

"You what?" I hissed.

"What? A dare is a dare, right? I've been waiting to play truth or dare with you for a long time, sweetheart."

"Are you serious? It's not a game when you're meddling with someone's love life. Especially Percy's, and you're not just messing with Percy's, you're messing with Rachel's, too," I told the two.

"Oh, I know, this isn't a game," Drew declared.

"Then why are you doing all of this? It's stupid, and I really don't want to do this anymore, I'll just do the other option, and everything will be back to normal," I spoke.

"Really? You think this is stupid? Chase, I've known you for a long time to know that you're already in too deep. Do you actually believe you can back out of this now? I have a lot of things planned, and I brought you here for a reason, and I'm going to make you talk," Drew declared, leveling her eyes to mine.

"Okay, I get what you mean, but first I need to ask you something. Did you pay Thalia and Piper?"

"Of course, I did. There were a lot more people there than you thought."

I let that sentence hang in the air, and I took a deep breath, feeling more betrayed that I ever had.

* * *

At the end of the school day, I was surprised that Drew didn't talk to me again. I knew Drew had a few tricks up her sleeve, and she always used it to the best of her ability. I was considering on pinching myself to confirm that whatever was happening was real. I tried to keep my composure as I headed out to the bicycle rack. I rounded a corner and was outside, where students were driving away in their cars, and walking away from the large school.

It was raining.

I looked at the bicycle rack where my bike was. It wasn't there. There were no other bicycles on the bicycle rack, and people were piling into others' cars because of the pouring rain. I muttered a curse under my breath and clenched my fists. Did panic pulse through my veins, and on the first day? I didn't have a jacket, or an umbrella, or any form of transportation.

Worst first day, _ever_.

I walked outside in the pouring rain, my clothes feeling heavy. I sighed, suddenly grateful that my house wasn't an hour away from school. It was better than taking the bus, it smelled like wet dog and an overpowering scent of perfume. The bus was just disgusting, I don't know how the people in there can tolerate it.

I started to walk from the school and probably hated every second of it because this was humiliating. The rain hit my face, hard. When did it ever rain on the first day of school? I started to walk faster, I wanted to be home, _now_. No doubt that my father would be yelling at me for losing a bike, nevertheless not being responsible.

I wasn't looking forward to it. Why am I worried about losing that bike anyway?

He wouldn't even know, why would he pay attention to a girl, his daughter, drenched in rain from head to toe? He came late at nights, and usually only had time for Bobby and Matthew. Heck, he was probably picking them up right now. Not even bothering to pay attention to his only daughter. They were his perfect family, Bobby, Matthew, and Susan.

Excluding me, of course. I couldn't care less about that bike now, since he wouldn't care about it. No one would care about it. The rain didn't cease when I was walking back to my house. I was pretty sure I had started running at one point, it seemed to take hours. When I got to my house, I shuddered. Two cars were parked in the driveway, Susan's, my step mother, and my father's.

Why was he here so early?

I walked slowly towards the house and knocked on the door. The pounding of footsteps was heard from inside the house and the door slammed open, missing my face by an inch. I flinched because standing there was a very angry looking Susan.

"Where in the world have you been?" Susan shrieked angrily.

I flinched, not such of a warm welcome before I could excuse myself for my absence, Susan grabbed my arm, pulling me into the house. My shoes made the front mat wet and me just standing there made Susan wrinkle her nose in disgust. I looked at the stairs which were to my right, longing to go up there, but I wasn't going to be. I saw Bobby and Matthew at the kitchen table reading.

It was surprising that someone in the house had noticed I wasn't here. "Boys, could you go and finish your homework in your room?" Susan asked them, a warm smile lighting up her face.

It was a fake smile.

Bobby and Matthew both _oohed_ at me before gathering their stuff and heading upstairs to their bedroom. I glared at them and fear flashed on their faces before they ran up the stairs faster.

"You are in _so much_ trouble, wait until your father here's about this!" Susan snapped.

Susan gripped my arms tighter as she pulled me to my father's study. My father's study was near the basement, which was filled with shelves of books, and had pictures of him, Susan, Bobby and Matthew on vacations, myself excluded.

The house was now filled with the wet footprints of a teenage girl.

Susan knocked on my father's study and gave me a look when she took her hand off of my arm. My arm looked like it had been suffocated, or much worse punched. Susan gave me a look that said you-better-hide-your-arm-or-else.

"Come in," Frederick said, his voice muffled from the outside of the door.

"Frederick," Susan said.

My father looked at me, and his eyes widened. I couldn't tell whether he was angry or disappointed. Either way worked for him, he always seemed to wear on of those expressions when he looked at me.

"Annabeth, why are you home so late?" Frederick asked me.

"I walked home," I told them honestly.

My father stood up, and he looked angry, nevertheless disappointed in me.

"You walked to school?" Frederick shouted, disbelief in the tone his voice.

"I rode my bike to school, actually," I added.

Susan had her hands on her hips, and I didn't even notice that Susan had moved over to where my father was standing. Susan looked livid like she was about to slap me. My father shook his head and met my eyes.

"Then why are you drenched in rain, and why are you home so late? It's four-twenty! You should have been here, at least, an hour ago!" Susan yelled. I flinched in fear at her words. Susan's hands were twitching, she was itching to slap my face.

"Something came up," I explained.

"What to do you mean by 'something came up' that doesn't make sense! It's been pouring rain for a good two hours at least!" Frederick shouted at me.

"I couldn't find my bike," I replied.

"Are you kidding me? Stop spewing lies, your father and I both know you don't own a bike! We would know if you did!" Susan snapped.

"Are you serious? I've had that bike since I was twelve, it was probably stolen! I do ride a bike!" I exclaimed, my voice eager so they'd believe me.

"What are you talking about? Only your brothers own a bike!" Frederick yelled.

I sighed, knowing they'd never believe me. There was no point in trying to convince them, they barely paid any attention to me.

"I knew we should have signed you up to go on the bus instead, you can barely even keep a bike if that's what you're implying. I'm emailing the school so that the bus can come and pick you up tomorrow," Frederick snapped.

"You know what? Forget it, I've already had a bad enough day, I'm going upstairs," I told them.

I turned around and walked away faster than I thought I would normally. I shivered because the air conditioning was low and I was drenched in rain.

I don't turn around to look at the faces of my father and Susan but instead held my head up higher. My anger did not subside once, not even when I met the eyes of my brothers, Matthew, and Bobby. I went to my room and slammed the door shut, the sound seeming to echo in the quiet house.

And when I went into my room, I heard my phone make a _ding_ sound. I took out my phone from my jeans, and I saw a message from the person I did not want to hear from.

 ** _Anonymous:_** **Apologize to Percy, it's his birthday tomorrow. Your plan is not working, Percy doesn't hate you. You are his girlfriend's best friend, he can't. He'll end up falling in love with you, anyway.**

Drew was out to get me.

* * *

 **PERCY JACKSON**

My phone rang. I jumped up, startled, and then realized it was the end of the school day, so of course I could use my phone. My mom was calling me, and it had been ringing pretty loudly. I answered the call, and I didn't like using phones that much. My mom convinced me to get one, I don't want one, but apparently I need one. So one day, mom comes home with this really expensive phone, and I felt so bad that she'd used her money like that.

I tried not to use it that much, especially when it came to doing math homework.

"Hello?" I asked.

"Percy? I thought you weren't going to answer the phone. How was your first day?" Sally asked.

"Oh, it was fine," I answered.

"Nothing else? Nothing new? Nothing you're excited that's coming up?" Sally questioned. The constant questions made me furrow my eyebrows together in confusion. And I couldn't believe I had forgotten. My birthday was tomorrow, on a Tuesday. On a school day. I really don't want to do my homework on my birthday.

"Well, I just remembered tomorrow's my birthday, so, yeah."

"Okay, you have to come home on the bus today, alright? I have to go, right now, Percy. Bye."

She hung up so quickly I stared at the phone weirdly. That wasn't like her at all. Was something wrong?

I walked out of the school's doors and started to walk towards the bus's doors and maybe I shouldn't have taken the bus.

The bus smelled like the rotten eggs that my old neighbor, Tommy, used to throw on my apartment door when I was little. It wasn't that long, until a few months later, I found out that he was arrested for covering a house in toilet paper on Halloween. Yeah, he never egged my apartment door again.

I was sitting next to Nico again, and he didn't utter a single word. There were a lot more people on the bus at the end of the day, I noticed, and Nico happened to be on it. I was sitting next to Nico again, and he got the window seat. He didn't have any headphones in his ears this time, but he was awfully quiet. The loud chatter on the bus didn't even seem to make him wince or cringe.

I was thinking about asking him if Bianca was his sister, but then I realized that Rachel had gone with Bianca and Drew to the movie theater. So, one thing I knew for sure was that Bianca had a younger brother, and never talked to him during school hours. Was she embarrassed that she had a younger brother? Who went to her school?

If I had a sibling who went to the same school as me, I'd try to say hello to them every chance I got. Apparently, Bianca did not. I know that some people just didn't talk to their siblings during school hours because it was awkward, but I wanted a sibling so badly, who was around the same age as me. I know that siblings can be a pain, but it wouldn't kill me if I at least had someone to hang out with when I was home alone.

I really wished that I had cousins, or someone related to me by blood besides my father or mother. Heck, I didn't even know who my father was. My mother didn't have any siblings growing up, and she was raised by her uncle when her parents died in a plane crash. No wonder why she's never let me go on a plane. If I were to ever set foot on a plane, she'd freak out and think I was going to die.

I don't blame her.

So, I have never been anywhere else besides New York, unless you count that one time I went on a field trip to go see Mount Rushmore in South Dakota. How did I get on the topic of traveling from thinking about siblings?

I really didn't know anyone on the bus besides Nico, and I felt bad because I did not know anyone else on this bus. Well, it wasn't like I had actually had a conversation with him, besides today in the morning.

"Are you Bianca's brother?" I asked Nico, out loud. When I realized what I had said I slapped my hands over my mouth. Curse my impulsiveness. Nico looked so startled that I winced. His face looked surprised and I could not tell if his face was an angry shade or surprised shade of red.

"What?" Nico questioned as he doubled over coughing in shock.

"I-I'm sorry, I shouldn't have asked—" I rushed.

Nico interrupted me as fast as a bullet, "its fine."

His words sounded like a silent hiss telling me to 'shut up'. So I'm going to take a guess now and believe that they don't want anyone to know that they _are_ siblings. "I'm sorry, I wasn't thinking," I apologized to him.

"Gods, do you ever shut up for once?" Nico snapped.

"Actually, I do. Wait, never mind, I talk in my sleep," I said sarcastically to Nico.

"Nico," I said, trying to capture his attention.

He didn't even acknowledge me, he just continued to stare out of the window, and it like he couldn't even comprehend a single word I was saying. I gave up after that because I have been trying to get his attention for the past ten minutes which seemed like _hours_ to me.

Maybe I was going crazy because it was almost like he wasn't even there. He wore all black and his silent demeanor made him hard to approach. The dark clothes he wore almost made him not even noticeable. I gave up, sighing in frustration, running my hands through my hair.

"Why are you so eager to talk to me?" Nico asked.

I jumped up in surprise.

I heard the bus's tires screech to a stop. The bus doors opened near the stop sign outside. Nico stood up. I stood up, too, realizing that he was supposed to get off now. I let Nico pass me and I sat back down in the bus's blue seat, and watched Nico walk away. The bus doors closed and before I knew it, the bus was leaving. The bus had dropped me off a few minutes later, and before I knew it almost everyone was staring at me. It was quite uncomfortable.

I was inside my apartment a few minutes later, too.

"Mom! I'm home!" I yelled.

I shut the apartment door closed and I could hear the washing machine in the small space near the front door. I looked around seeing the photos from when I was growing up, hung on the walls. The walls were colored blue and the floor was tile, until you reached the small, narrow hallway. The walls were clean, almost _too_ clean. It looked so unnatural to me, I don't think I've ever seen my house look this clean before.

I didn't hear my mother call back, and I realized that she sounded like she was in a rush to get home before she hung up. I was usually the one who hung up on the phone, not my mother, it was _never_ my mother. The apartment sounded completely silent, besides the washing machine.

I took my sneakers off and put them by the front door, left with my socks on, I started to walk towards my bedroom. There were only two bedrooms in this apartment, and because the walls were so thin, you could hear muffled sounds of what was happening next door.

"Mom?" I called out.

Okay, I was going to admit it sooner or later, I was scared. Sally was always here before me, she would always come home earlier than I did. I'm going to take a guess and assume that she is getting my birthday present. I mean, I love birthday presents, but I don't want my mom to waste money on them.

I heard the door slide open, and I ran to see who was there. I heard the click of a lock of the door and unfortunately, I slipped and landed on my back. Why did I never take my socks off?

"Percy?" Sally questioned.

I heard my mother's footsteps become louder and louder until I heard her gasp.

"Percy!"

My mother started to walk faster this time and bended down to offer me a hand. I gladly accepted and stood up with the help of her hand. I let go of her hand and asked, "Where were you?"

Sally looked shocked that I had asked her that question.

"I was coming back from a friend's house, someone I met before the teacher interview," Sally rushed out. Percy furrowed his eyebrows in confusion. It was highly unlikely that his mom would suddenly hang out with a person for a day, at their house, unless it was someone who she liked. I was actually really hoping she went shopping for a birthday present for me.

"Oh," I said.

* * *

"I have cookies if you want them. Didn't you smell them?" Sally said.

I tried not to frown at my mother's unusual behavior, and smiled at her, trying to get her to know that I was fine. I walked to the small kitchen, and the blue cookies almost immediately caught my attention. I grinned and licked my lips, walking over towards them. I heard the light footsteps of my mother walking behind me and she said, "It's an early birthday present."

"I thought you were getting me a birthday present before you came, actually," I admitted to my mom.

"Are you excited? My baby boy's going to be seventeen!" My mom squealed.

Okay, she's back. My mother is acting normal again. I reached my hand out to grab a cookie, but it was snatched out of my hand. My mother put the cookie back on the pan that she had baked them with.

"No, you already had some yesterday, in celebration of the last day of summer," Sally scolded.

"But can't I eat them in celebration of the first day of school?" I pleaded.

"Fine, I will give you one, but _only one_ , and that's it," my mother said to me.

I didn't even say thank you, but instead grabbed the same cookie that I was reaching to grab before. I took a bite out of the blue cookie, and the chocolate was too much. The cookie tasted like literal heaven. My mother chuckled beside me, and I grinned. I think I ate all of the cookie in one bite.

"Did you meet anyone today?" Sally asked.

"Actually, I did, Rachel's best friend. One of them, though," I told her.

My mother's shoulders tensed at the mention of Rachel. Of course my mother loved Rachel, but she still had some doubt. My mother was a little hesitant about me dating Rachel. Apparently, my mother didn't trust Rachel.

"Her name is Annabeth, by the way," I said.

I thought about Annabeth, and her honey-blond princess curls, I also thought about her striking gray eyes. A shiver went down my spine just thinking about her eyes. I knew it wasn't right to make enemies with her the second I met her, but she was being harsh, and I hated people who were like that.

"Oh, really?" Sally asked, her voice hinting for me to go on.

"Yeah, she's nothing like Rachel. They're kind of like polar opposites. I can't even believe they're friends," I told Sally.

"So, did you think she was nice?" My mother questioned. I cringed when I heard that, she was alright, I guess.

I voiced my thoughts, "she was alright, I guess," I lied.

"Percy, you sound like you hate her," my mother stated to me.

"Okay, fine! I do hate her, she's just a little harsh, alright? Please don't make me fight you before my birthday," I pleaded.

"I never said that I wanted to argue. I have to go anyway, so bye, Percy. I have to go, now," my mother rushed out. She hadn't even taken her shoes off yet, so she already knew she was going to have to leave anyway. My mother looked like she was ready to go, already. My mother, Sally, kissed me on the cheek, wishing me goodbye.

And I stared at the retreating lady leaving, where in the world was she going? Especially on the night before my birthday.

"Bye, Percy."

She closed the door, and I locked the door. When I had looked at my phone a few minutes later after my mother had left, there was a message.

 **Anonymous: Accept her apologies.**

* * *

 **Oh my gods! I am so, so, sorry! I'm glad that it's winter break now, though! I am starting to write the next chapter, so no worries! Because I have a two week break, I have a lot more free time, and I can update more often.**

 **And what did you guys find the most surprising?**


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